Woman who killed baby deer sentenced to 80 hour service and $500 fine

[Liberal_in_LA]

remember this story? Who grabs a shovel when they see a baby deer? Seriously!

Woman defends flower garden, kills baby deer
Many people take their gardening extremely seriously, but Dorothy Richardson seems to have taken her passion for flowers a bit too far.

Richardson, 76, of the Cleveland suburb of Euclid, has been accused of beating a baby deer to death with a shovel after finding it grazing in her flower garden. She pleaded no contest last Thursday to one misdemeanor count of animal abuse and was found guilty by a municipal court judge who sentenced her to 80 hours of community service and ordered her to pay a $500 fine. Richardson said she became frightened when she saw the fawn in her garden and had only meant to shoo it away with the shovel. Apparently she just didn't know her own strength...



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/detail?entry_id=48894&tsp=1#ixzz0T5kavBTD

[Romulox]

1. That's not much of a sentence. I've heard that most sociopathy expresses itself first as cruelty

to animals.

[Obamanaut]

2. At 76, she's gotta hurry if it's gonna advance much. nt

[Romulox]

9. "Senile Dementia", and what makes you think this is the first time?

:hi:

[Obamanaut]

20. Why would I think it isn't the first time? And I'm acquainted with senile

dementia. MIL is in nursing home, and the staff talked with Miz O this very day about this. MIL gets around with a walker, is 93, but is rapidly "losing it."

On the plus side, MIL hasn't swatted any deer with shovels. Yet.

[Romulox]

26. Because people are rarely prosecuted for an offense the first time they commit it..

Think domestic violence, DUI, shoplifting.

Moreover, it is not logical to assume that she waited until her 76th year to express her deeply cruelty. It is more logical to assume that this is not her first offense, merely the first that caught the attention of the authorities and the media.

[Flaneur]

59. Oh, give it a break!

The old woman whacked an animal eating her flowers. And you're trying to make her into a psychopath.

[MajorChode]

79. Good point. I bet she's been caving in baby deer heads for the last 60 years

No doubt she planted the flowers just to lure them in. The authorities need to start checking the freshly dug holes in her yard. I bet the old hag has dozens of them buried out there.

[CalvinandHobbes]

109. WOW you are scary..............nt

[Romulox]

128. I know. People who disagree with you are TERRIFYING. People who bash heads with shovels?

Salt of the earth! :rofl:

[Dreamer Tatum]

120. I'm sure CSI - SSDI is all over it

If anyone can uncover a mass murdering 76-year-old, it's those guys. :eyes:

[Romulox]

129. 76 years old = you've EARNED the right to be cruel to animals!

:puke:

[Dreamer Tatum]

130. Um, the OP details the punishment for the crime

What's the problem?

[dysfunctional press]

125. "deeply cruelty"...? oh, brother.

:eyes:

melodramatic much?

[Romulox]

127. Yep, animal cruelty is almost a never a sign of mental distubance.

:eyes: back atcha! :hi:

[dysfunctional press]

147. what about those sick bastards who buy mouse and rat traps?

maybe we should monitor the people who buy d-con as well.

as far as that woman was concerned- that fawn was a pest, on the same level that other people see rats, chipmunks, squirrels, or rabbits...and nobody considers it 'cruel' to kill those other garden vermin.

"mental disturbance" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[bertman]

75. My thoughts precisely, Obamanaut!!

:rofl: :rofl:

[Quantess]

6. So true. Watch out for this woman.

If she's a widow, or had a SIDS baby, circumstances just might warrant a closer look.

[leftstreet]

3. Moron. She should have claimed it attacked her

In 76 years she learned nothing from our War Based economy?

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. Picture with the article. This is what the 'attacker' would have looked like

[leftstreet]

7. Looks kinda 'foreign' to me

She needs to get with the program

[WonderGrunion]

67. Maybe it was a Muslin Faun.

:shrug:

Regardless, it was attacking with WMDs (Weapons of Mass Deer droppings)

[shanti]

57. i wonder where the mother deer was....

now SHE might have actually attacked her, but that baby....:(

[AngryOldDem]

143. Probably nearby foraging.

And there were most likely other does and their offspring nearby, as more often than not, they tend to travel together with their fawns.

One summer we had a doe leave her fawn under a tree that was right against our house. It was neat to see, but also a sad testament as to how much their habitat has shrunk through development and human encroachment.

[closeupready]

170. Yes, their natural habitat has shrunk, but also, their numbers have exploded,

since their predators, such as wolves and bears, are (for the vast majority) no longer part of the ecosystem where they live.

[Ms. Toad]

96. She did. That was her excuse.

Unfortunately, I can't find the articles from the time to quote her exact comment.

[krispos42]

106. "It's coming right for us!"

[Brickbat]

4. 80 hours? Yikes!

And is it because it's a deer that she got the sentence?

[closeupready]

8. It's the Bambi factor, and little else, in my opinion.

If it were a skunk or a coyote, this would be a non-story.

[sandnsea]

14. She wouldn't have done this to either of those animals

Because she really would have been afraid. And yes she should have gotten a sentence for beating an animal to death over a fucking garden. Ridiculous. I've lived in deer country all my adult life and NEVER EVER heard of anyoone even threaten to beat one to death.

[closeupready]

17. Where do you draw the line? Should I be imprisoned for killing a rat?

Or a kitchen mouse? That's a serious question.

[SoCalNative]

19. Deer are not vermin

but you are a loon.

[Brickbat]

23. Ohhhh, yes they are, in some places.

[closeupready]

24. They certainly can be, spreading disease and eating vegetables.

You are a lemming. :D

[caballero]

61. Maybe not vermin but definitely varmint when their numbers are too high.

They taste great in any case.
:-)

[KittyWampus]

86. Yes, deer are vermin. You must not have a vegetable garden that you live from. Or an orchard.

Or any landscaping that you've invested time, money and love in.

[Arugula Latte]

165. People are vermin, too. They've invaded wildlife's space.

They breed too much and do too much environmental damage. They pollute and kill off everything in their path.

Works both ways. :shrug:

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. if it's against the law. This lady broke the law

[sandnsea]

76. Why act stupid? Heard of disease??

Do deer spread disease??

[amandabeech]

81. Deer in many parts of the Eastern U.S. carry Lyme disease,

which can be a nasty business that is often difficult to treat.

Deer also may carry a brain wasting disease, similar to Keutzfeld-Jacob (?) syndrome that humans get from exposure to mad cow disease. The disease can decimate deer stocks, and make it a dicey proposition to eat venison, which provides a good freezer-full of meat for low-income rural dwellers in many cases.

[sandnsea]

82. And they're going to bite you and make you sick??

Fools. There is no reason to kill a deer, other than food. What a stupid hateful thread.

[closeupready]

90. Like that Black Plague, Lyme Disease is spread not from deer-human, but deer-tick-human.

In the same way that the Black Plague was transmitted to humans not from rat-human contact, but rat-fleas-humans.

[aikoaiko]

16. Or a groundhog, or an opossum, or snake (even nonpoisonous). No difference.

Bambi-lovers got their villain.

[closeupready]

18. Yup.

n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

25. Actually, a great many venomous snake are protected species.

And killing snakes is just plain stupid - they keep the REAL vermin down. If you like rats, kill all the snakes.

[Romulox]

27. Ummm, what is the overriding need to kill ANY of those animals?

You state it like it's self-evident. :wtf:

[Zoeisright]

28. A need to feel big and strong

by those who are weak and ineffective.

[Brickbat]

44. LMAO.

[aikoaiko]

29. When they eat your food or flora that you've been growing for a season, it can be easy to

to end their days.

Snake wouldn't be eating your plants but they do bite.

[Romulox]

33. So it was either you or the opossum, huh?

:eyes:

[aikoaiko]

35. so to speak, yes.

There are plenty of deer, groundhog, etc to go around.

[Romulox]

38. There are plenty of PEOPLE too. That isn't a good justification for killing.

:hi:

[aikoaiko]

41. Yes, sir if they were eating my summer ripe tomatos

;)

I'm not for the needless killing of animals, but an person killing a garden pest doesn't bother me.

[Romulox]

43. So, if I steal a tomato, you'd kill me? Your argument speaks for itself.

:eyes:

[aikoaiko]

45. It was a joke. Lighten up, Francis.

[Romulox]

48. It's a joke only because you're ashamed of defending your own argument.

You were being serious upthread. It became a joke when you tried to articulate your reasoning. :hi:

[aikoaiko]

50. You're clever deconstruction of my words has inspired me to never kill another living thing --

---even plants. I go live on sunshine now.

adios.

[Romulox]

54. That's not what "deconstruction" means. nt

[aikoaiko]

60. self-delete

just another joke.

[grantcart]

155. a rare moment of a DU inspired religious epiphany

and I caught it in real time.

let me get my hankie.

[closeupready]

52. People have rights that animals do not. That may not be fair, but it is the legal reality.

Many here seem to forget that in these discussions.

[Romulox]

53. That's self-evident. It's not a moral argument for killing, however. nt

[closeupready]

55. Agreed. I totally support laws against animal abuse.

:hi:

[Flaneur]

62. If I caught an animal eating/destroying my garden...

...I would try to run it off. If that didn't work, I'd kill it.

If YOU stole my tomato, I wouldn't kill you, but I'd certainly try to run you off. I would treat you better than I would a varmint. Sorry if that offends you.

[WonderGrunion]

69. Wasn't "Fried Green Tomatoes" about cannabilism?

May not seem so ludicrous a leap now.

[bvar22]

89. If you steal the means of my famliy's survival.....

...better watch out.
Not kidding.

We LIVE on what we grow.

[Zywiec]

30. You obviously don't know anything about gophers

They can be very destructive...

[closeupready]

32. Moles are cute, but dig up the lawn, killing trees, bushes and grass in the process.

n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. Experienced gophers as a child in Northern Ca. They are out of control with the holes

OMG. A hole every foot.

[closeupready]

31. Depends on the circumstances, doesn't it?

:shrug:

[Romulox]

34. File that response under "cop out". You feel strongly about killing, articulate your reasons

beyond "because I can."

[closeupready]

39. You ask the impossible. There are different circumstances in which

lethal resistance is warranted, and other circumstances in which nothing more than a quiet approach will scare off unwanted animal visitors. For example, with that woman in Florida who was attacked by, of all thing, five raccoons, there should be no question that killing the raccoons would be justified.

[Romulox]

46. And yet here you are, advocating for the killing of random animals as a general proposition

(and defending those who are caught doing the same.) Odd. :shrug:

[closeupready]

51. No, I am not, I have no idea whatsoever why you think I am here to defend the random killing of anim

animals as a general proposition.

Do you understand what it means when someone says, " depending upon the circumstances"? That is what I am saying.

[Brickbat]

42. I kill mice when I find them in my home for a variety of reasons -- they're dirty, destructive and

pesty. I've killed gophers because they were tearing up my yard, garden and septic tank and field. I killed a litter of newborn somethings in my yard because the dog had torn up the nest and I didn't know if the mother would come back; I don't know what they were, but I'm guessing they were rats, muskrats or possums.

I'm learning how to bowhunt so I can hunt deer on our land, both to eat and to manage.

[Romulox]

47. Just wow.

"I killed a litter of newborn somethings in my yard because the dog had torn up the nest and I didn't know if the mother would come back; I don't know what they were, but I'm guessing they were rats, muskrats or possums."

Just in case, huh? :puke:

[Brickbat]

49. Yup.

:shrug:

[SoCalNative]

21. Not the bambi factor

There are HUMANE means of dispatching or keeping unwanted deer or any other animal from one's property.

Beating them to death with a shovel because you're a cranky old bitch isn't one of them.

[vincna]

72. I agree, she should have shot it.

A well aimed shot and it'slike you flicked a switch - very humane.

[Quantess]

99. Coyote PUP, or BABY skunk, you mean.

Um, no, it would still be a story.

[closeupready]

112. Um, no, it wouldn't be a story.

n/t

[kctim]

10. A record

and community service and a steep monetary fine for killing a deer? Seriously?

[SoCalNative]

37. $500 is a "steep" fine?

:rofl:

Should have been $500,000 then maybe the cranky old bitch would think twice about ever doing it again.

[Flaneur]

64. Don't be ridiculous.

You do know that people kill deer every fall, right? Perhaps not with a shovel...

And lovely language for the old woman: "cranky old bitch."

[WonderGrunion]

71. Misogynyst

N/M

[the other one]

110. There it is!

You can't deride one woman, no matter how deserving, without being called a misogynist.

[kctim]

77. It is for most of us

especially seniors. Bet she didn't have anything else to spend that money on, like medications or something, so its good that she is paying dumbass fines so that others feel good about themselves.
Hope she at least got to keep the hide.

[katandmoon]

11. Good.

[Fire1]

12. Justice served. Ole' bitch. n/t

[Poll_Blind]

13. I had watched the video associated with the posting of the original story and...

...her explanation reeked of a lie. Not like it takes a neurosurgeon to figure out that someone who beats a fawn to death is probably the agressor. AFAIK, baby deer instinctively remain still when any perceived threat is around- it's just about their only defense.

From what I recall of the story (and of the interview with her neightbor), she didn't like deer in her garden and thought that by killing one of them the others would get the hint that they weren't welcome when they saw the body. I shit you not.

PB

[caballero]

63. She greatly overestimated the intelligence of deer.

They can't process that kind of information. They basically can't even see stuff that isn't moving and that's why they tend to 'freeze' (the headlight thing)...by not moving they think everything else will stop too.

[misanthrope]

152. ...as most do with the wisdom and acumen of humans.**nm

**

[Arkansas Granny]

15. You know, in the past people who raised gardens for food, would have considered the fawn

as a pest cutting into their food supplies and would have killed it as vermin without any hesitation. Considering her age, she might fall into that category. I'm not advocating clubbing animals to death, but not everyone sees wildlife and soft and fuzzy.

[vincna]

73. You are correct

We have an awful deer problem in suburban New Jersey. It's impossible to have any kind of a garden - they are rats with hooves.

[sandnsea]

80. Again, lived in deer country all my adult life

Nobody ever felt the need to kill a deer that got into the garden. There are plenty of other means available to keep deer out. She's an idiot, not a quaint oldtimer.

[SoCalNative]

83. Since when are flowers "food supply?"

[dugaresa]

123. while I am not defending this woman, there are flower gardens that cost

quite a bit of change. I have been cultivating and buying/swapping perennials for a long time. To replace all the perennials in my garden would run at least $1500 retail and that doesn't count the shrubs and other stuff that deer like to eat.

Now I spray the stuff with repellant that seems to work, but I do get really mad when critters eat my stuff. I don't think I would have it in me to kill anything and most things scare the shit out of me as I am a jumpy kind of person. My spouse takes great delight in my antics as I garden. "Eeek! a Mole!" and I jump about 4 feet in the air.

[wtmusic]

84. And eaten the fawn. nt

[Altoid_Cyclist]

36. The human race at its' best once again.

We destroy more and more of the natural landscape in the name of progress so that developers can make more money. When we take away the natural habitat of animals, where are they supposed to go? More and more people seem to think that it's great to build "out in nature" as long as there are no animals to eat their flowers. Yes. I get upset when the deer and rabbits eat my flowers, but they're doing it to survive, unlike the woman in the story who just killed a defenseless deer for the hell of it! And yes, I am an animal lover. And every day when I look at what's going on in the world and see what the human race is capable of, I love animals even more.

[flvegan]

56. How many times do I have to explain it?

Look, we're the God blessed human fucking race. This is our world given to us to ruin as we see fit by our Lord (or evolution for you heathens). As the self-appointed top of the food chain, it's our right...nay, our JOB to take a shovel, pick axe, flamethrower, machine gun, whathaveyou and destroy any animal that may or may not have presented itself as any form of nuisance.

When it comes to our flowers, no matter if the critter is a baby deer or brontosaurus, we must end it. For example, I like to watch the squirrels. Furry little rats that they are. I've got a shotgun by my front door should I ever see an owl even considering taking one from my yard. Swear to Jesus, I'm blowing that thing straight back to the devil.

Damn fascist judge in this case.

A-fucking-men.

[Fastcars]

126. You May Want To Think Twice....

Before shooting an owl/hawk/eagle. If you think the old lady got in trouble for whacking a deer with a shovel your really don't want to deal with the ramifications of shooting a Federally protected bird of prey. That is about as bad as it gets when dealing with wildlife. Heck I have heard of people getting big fines for possessing a feather of a bird of prey they found on the ground.

Your statement in the second paragraph seems to say you are alright with killing some animals because you enjoy watching others. Is that the point you were trying to get across? If so isn't that pretty much exactly what the lady that killed the deer did? Other than the fact she killed an animal eating plants she enjoyed looking at.

[flvegan]

144. Wait...you took that post seriously?

You honestly couldn't see the dripping sarcasm?

Oh brother. :eyes:

Totally missed my point.

[Fastcars]

161. I thought it was....

But when it went to both sides of the debate I got confused. Had a very rough month and I am taking A LOT of things wrong. Probably should have went back and read it again instead of replying.

[flvegan]

166. It's all good.

You made a couple good points in spite of my sarcasm. I hope this month goes far better for you.

[grantcart]

156. I'm going to start charging the fucking ants rent - goddamit!

[crim son]

58. I know how angry one becomes when deer continually eat away

at your beloved garden. Really freaking mad! I used to send the children out to chase the hordes of them that showed up at dusk to decimate my veggie beds. But I also remember one afternoon intently weeding a half acre of corn and feeling like I was being watched. Looking up I saw Bambi not six feet from me, nibbling at the corn shoots and I had no inclination to do anything other than admire the animal. Baby deer are incredibly cute. Instead of chasing her away I had a quiet talk to her about eating my garden, and what she should tell her family and friends when she got home. Eventually she wandered off.

I can't imagine hitting a deer with a shovel. That's just creepy behavior.

[mnhtnbb]

65. If you have deer, expect them to eat your flowers. If you have veggies and don't fence

expect to see the veggies eaten by deer.

If you want a garden that deer ignore, then plant what they don't eat.

Stupid, cruel woman.

[Mixopterus]

66. Such as?

[WonderGrunion]

68. My only issue with this story

I've seen deer on Animal Planet outrun all kinds of charging predators. This faun couldn't outrun a 76 year old woman? It deserved to be beaten to death.

[Brickbat]

70. Hee!

:thumbsup:

[Liberal_in_LA]

91. Oh that's awful. The deer was probably trusting of humans.

[Selatius]

95. If the deer was trusting of humans, then that's worse. Its survival rate would plummet.

Instead of running away from humans, the deer would approach them. It would've made an easy kill for a hunter with a rifle.

[Shell Beau]

115. Nothing really deserves to be beaten to death. What

a nasty statement.

[WonderGrunion]

131. Nothing?

Corn fields get beaten to death in threshers during an annual genocide called harvest. Do you care about the corn? If you cherish ALL life, then actually cherish ALL life. Stop being speciest. Or just understand that other life forms are not equal to humanity.

[Shell Beau]

169. Wow. That has to be the most bizarre thing I have ever read.

[Doremus]

158. It's survival instinct was to remain still, as it is with all fawns.

Camouflage coat and stone stillness. Their only defenses.

[Mixopterus]

74. Eh, not sure what people are getting worked up over

The article doesn't say she beat the animal into a bloody mash. Prey animals die easy, young prey animals even more so. It would likely only take a moderate thwack on the head or back to send the animal into shock, killing it.

Shooing it away would have been better, obviously, but let's not treat the woman like some psychopath.

[Thickasabrick]

78. I had to stop the elderly woman next door from killing Jake the Snake

with her shovel. He is a big black snack that lives in the woods and takes care of the field mice. He really only comes out when it's really dry and he's looking for water. He crossed over into her yard...oh the horror.

As I gathered him up into a tub, she was still insisting I kill him. I think there needs to be more public education as to what part wild animals play in the scheme of things.

[Liberal_in_LA]

168. +100

Thank you for saving the snake

[XOKCowboy]

85. Dare I use that dreaded word Hunting?

Overpopulation of deer is caused by the lack of natural predators. They're not coming back anytime soon or ever. Hunting does help thin the herd.

Just saying. Flame away.

[AngryOldDem]

88. No flames here.

Hunting is definitely needed to prevent the spread of disease, harm to humans through deer accidents, etc. Herds need to be culled.

[varelse]

164. The same could be said of the human species - x1000 actually -

and where are our "natural predators"?

It doesn't take away from the simple fact that what this old... beast in a human shape... did was cruel, unnecessary, and deceitful. She beat a defenseless creature to death and then lied about it. She's also a very lucky... thing in human female shape, because if the fawn's mother had been nearby, she's probably be a dead or severely injured evil crone.

[AngryOldDem]

87. I was hoping for some jail time.

I'm the one who came across this story and posted it earlier this summer. It outraged me then, and from time to time I've wondered what the upshot was from this. Thanks for the update.

I don't give damn if she's 76 and has one foot in the grave, or if she's half-senile. What she did was inexcuseable and indefensible, and her circumstances should have no bearing on the sentence.

And as for her saying that she only meant to scare the fawn -- I call bullshit as well. When she was interviewed right after it happened, she said she was trying to teach the other deer in the neighborhood "a lesson."

May she spend her 80 hours cleaning up dog shit at the pound.

[Rebubula]

121. Jail time??

Awesome. So...a woman does something that thousands of men do every year (so she hit it with a shovel...the deer is just as dead as if you shot it - also....many times, deer are only wounded at first and struggle a few miles before dying) and you want her in jail?!?

Geez...jailing an old woman for killing a deer...this site never fails to amaze me.

[AngryOldDem]

142. What is it you don't understand?

She BEAT the animal to death. That is cruelty.

Why couldn't she have just picked up her goddamned phone, and called animal control to come and take the deer out of her yard, and handled it that way?

You truly DO NOT see what she did as unnecessary and cruel, and therefore deserving of some sort of consequence? You're right...this site never fails to amaze.

ON EDIT: While I admit that some hunters are not as skilled as others, most know exactly where and how to shoot a rifle that will take down a deer relatively quickly and painlessly. Big difference between that and a shovel, wouldn't you say?

[Taitertots]

153. I doubt there is much difference

between getting a head shot from a shovel and a bullet to the center mass.

Hit the head, cease brain function, painless death.
Hit the lungs and heart and it can still run several hundred feet.

I doubt the fawn ever realised what happened before it ceased brain function.

[Doremus]

159. Wholeheartedly agree.

Black hearted shrew got off easy, imo.

[Maru Kitteh]

92. GOOD - I'd have preferred to see her jailed but this is still a positive outcome.

[Pool Hall Ace]

93. What if a young child had been picking flowers in the woman's garden

instead of a baby deer grazing?

Would Mrs. Richardson's sentence of community service and a fine be acceptable then?

I agree with Quantess (post #6).

[Taitertots]

102. Yeah, because Deer = Human Child

Does a killing a deer hold the same moral weight as killing a human child to you?

[Pool Hall Ace]

113. I don't feel I have the right to kill either one over some silly flowers.

When children become pests in my yard (which they have done more than once, as they were either bothering my dog or screaming), I tell them to leave.

If deer were in my yard and I actually thought they were doing damage, I would put up fencing or apply some sort of deer repellant (like coyote pee).

If I were inclined to kill deer, I would use either a gun or a crossbow.

This woman opted for a freakin' shovel! She sounds like a sociopath to me.

[Taitertots]

154. So you really are attempting to equivocate a deer and a human child's life

Well if you hit one with your car what are you going to do?
Human: call the police, and an ambulance if they are still alive.
Deer: Throw its carcass off the road for the scavengers to pick from


I can legally kill deer. So yes if they are becoming a pest you are to some extent within your rights to shoot them over flowers, money, or just for fun.

[Pool Hall Ace]

160. When it comes to auto collisions

I would call fire & rescue for a human (child or otherwise).

I don't have the strength to pull a deer carcass off the road. If the deer were still alive, I would call the police to put the deer down. If the deer were dead, I would call animal control to dispose of the carcass.

But I would feel upset either way.

Based on the way my husband has been treating me lately, I value my dog more than my husband. My husband has kicked me out of the house, threatened me, tried to file for divorce while I was in the hospital following a major surgery . . . I could go on. My dog has stuck by my side throughout the whole ordeal.

So some may disagree, but I don't see anything wrong with showing concern about animals.

[Dirtyhairy]

94. If it was a raccoon no one would give a shit

but deers are cute

[Liberal_in_LA]

97. I'd care.

[Dirtyhairy]

98. Ok, some would care. But I seriously doubt it would go this far.

[closeupready]

111. Reality check: how many raccoons have crossed ever your path?

?? Did you read yesterday about the elderly woman in Florida who was attacked and severely injured in an attack by five raccoons? These are wild animals. Raccoons are not deer, granted, but the original point is valid - if she had killed a raccoon, even a baby raccoon, this would be a non-story.

[Liberal_in_LA]

114. I see a raccoon weekly. I'm not referring to killing a raccon that's attacking you. I'm referring

to killing wild life that are going on about their nightly business.

[closeupready]

118. But wait - it's dishonest of you to mischaracterize the circumstances here, or in any analogy

you are drawing, because the deer in this story was not simply going about its business, it was foraging in her garden. Further, with the exception of really bad cases (frothing mouth), it's not clear to me that one can determine on a visual level whether wild animals have rabies.

Note: I do not approve of what she did. My argument is that matters are never so black and white as some here want us to believe.

[proteus_lives]

100. She shouldn't have been punished.

She killed a pest in her garden. It's a cuteness issue. If she killed a raccoon, she won't be punished.

[diane in sf]

101. why on earth didn't she just fence the garden???

[democracy1st]

103. deers come into all yards and eat flowers,most people scare them off etc

[Taitertots]

104. City folk think they know everything

What kind of fence are you going to put up to stop deer?

[depakid]

107. errr... the same kind that LOTS of people in deer country use

so they don't waste their time and money feeding deer.

[Taitertots]

108. I've seen a deer jump a 6 foot tall fence without effort

I've heard they can jump fences over 8 feet tall.

Oh yeah deer country. I'm looking at a deer from my window at work right now.

[depakid]

138. And I've seen thousands of gardens- including my own do just fine

when protected by appropriate fencing from deer, elk and rabbits.

[Shell Beau]

117. I've seen deer mangled up in fences before. So terrible.

[Taitertots]

105. Should have just shot it with a crossbow

I'll keep that in mind when I go out crossbow hunting within the next few weeks. Of course I'm going for bucks with big racks not fawns.

[ieoeja]

116. Trophy hunter, eh? (nt)

[WonderGrunion]

132. Why would you say that?

Bow and crossbow hunting does far less damage to the meat than gunfire, requires you to be closer to the prey for verification and aiming purposes and most areas only allow bucks of a certain age to be hunted, keeping the does and young for future herd growth.

I'm guessing you live in a city and really know nothing about hunting. (Or alternatively, live in texas or another "deer farm" area, bleh.)

[ieoeja]

134. I grew up on a farm in southern Indiana. Own 240 acres of it now.

And lots of people hunt on it as it includes an 80 acre Classifed Forest and Wildlife Habitat.

So a hearty, fuck you, to your "know nothing", comment, asshole!

[WonderGrunion]

135. Name calling aside

Why use the "Trophy Hunter" comment originally? Were you being intellectually dishonest or willfully ignorant?

[ieoeja]

171. "big racks"

The older the buck, the bigger the rack, the worse the meat.

We don't use the meat from old, retired bulls for human consumption for a reason.

[ZombieHorde]

119. I live around a lot of deer.

We have a special device to keep them at bay, we call this device a "fence". Works really well.

[closeupready]

122. Does your device work as well as this one?

[ZombieHorde]

124. Better. I have never seen a deer jump one of our fences, but I have seen them try and fail. nt

[WonderGrunion]

133. I grew up on a farm.

We raised sheep with electric fencing, high fencing to keep the sheep from jumping it. We would frequently end up with deer and moose we'd need to chase out of the pasture area.

Okay, we didn't chase the moose. We very carefully coaxed it through the gate then scared it into the woods.

[depakid]

140. Stock fencing's a different deal- meant for a different purpose.

[WonderGrunion]

145. The apple trees in the pasture were a big incentive for the wildlife

Some deer and moose felt it worth the occasional zap.

[depakid]

146. No doubt

They can smell apples and pears ripening a mile a way.

[WonderGrunion]

149. We couldn't cut them down.

The sheep loved them too much. Before the branches would get heavy and lean down where they could reach the apples, they would rise up on their rear legs and try to snag apples with their teeth.

[ZombieHorde]

148. Moose are scary. nt

[WonderGrunion]

150. Maine drivers fear moose.

A highway collision with a moose will leave your car totaled and the moose mildly perturbed.

[McCamy Taylor]

136. If she was less than 60 years old she would have gone to jail for killing BAMBI

[Kaleva]

137. I gave up on gardening.

[RedCloud]

139. The NSA (National Shovel Association) will not dig this decision...

Shovels don't kill baby deers. People do!

[Liberal_in_LA]

163. lol. We need a 3 day waiting period on shovel purchases

[Lord Helmet]

141. I'd gladly pay a $500 fine to beat her ass with a shovel.

[Taitertots]

151. Good thing we don't let sociopaths like you do that

[Lord Helmet]

157. my hyperbole pales in comparison to her cruelty

[havocmom]

162. So, is 'whack a mole' illegal too?

:evilgrin:

[tomm2thumbs]

167. By the way, catch-and-release mouse traps work quite well

do they have ones for small deer?

and do NOT trap a skunk in a wiremesh cage - never, never, never!